Hopper mechanism.



RHL. WILGOX.

HOPPER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1910. 1,094,766. Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

W/T/VESSES: INVENTOH g ym 61M; flm/ y I ATTORNEY COLUuBIA vumuanAPl-l CO.. WASHINGTON R. L. WILGOX.

HOPPER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14, 1910.

1,094,?66. Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

3 SHBETS-$HEET 2.

J W/TNESSES: lA/I/ENTOH I v ATTORNEY R. L. WILOOX.

HOPPER MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED mun, 1910.

1,094,766.. Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

\\ Q I filllt llllllllfllll} WITNESSES: INVENTOR Z VZW.

ATTOREY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD LESTER WILCOX, OF WATERIBUR-Y, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB TO THE WATERBURY BARREL FOUNDRY AND MACHINE COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

HOPPER MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD LESTER VIL- cox, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVate-rbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hopper Mechanism, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in hopper mechanism, having for its object, among other things, to provide an auxiliary chute in connection with the discharge chute, whereby the blanks to be operated on are conducted for a limited distance in line with the tools; to construct such mechanism so that it may be adjusted as a unit in relation to the operating tools and moved into or out of its operative position; and to accomplish these and other desirable objects with mechanism composed of few parts, of simple design, that may be economically constructed and operated without unusual skill.

To these, and other ends, my invention consists in the hopper mechanism, having certain details of construction and combinations of parts as will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals of reference designate like parts in the several figures: Figure l is a plan view of my improved device as applied to a threading machine; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion thereof; Fig. at is an enlarged elevation of the forward end of the chute with the auxiliary chute connected therewith; Figs. 5 and 6 are elevations of said auxiliary chute; Fig, 7 is an enlarged sectional view thereof upon line AB of Fig. 5; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view thereof upon line CD of Fig. 4.

My invention relates particularly to mechanism for supporting a hopper and its accompanying parts, as a unit, with means for adjusting the same in at least two directions and moving it into and out of its operative position, as well as to provide mechanism for guiding the blanks during a portion of the time they are being operated upon.

For. convenience my device is illustrated Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed .Tune 14, 1910.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

Serial No. 566,784.

as applied to a thread rolling machine, but it may be applied equally as well to any other type of machine having a hopper, and I do not therefore limit myself to the application of my invention to such thread rolling machine.

In the drawings only such portion of the thread rolling machine is illustrated as is adjacent to the hopper mechanism, and the body thereof is designated by the numeral 1, within which a gear 2 is rotatably mounted and driven from a pinion 3 fixed on a shaft (4.; 5 is the slide, which is connected with a pin (3 fixed in the gear 2 by a pitman 7; 8 is the fixed die that is secured to the body 1; 9 the movable die mounted on the slide 5; 10 the feed slide which has a reciprocating movement in the body member; 11 the feed plate that is connected with the feed slide 10; and 12 the cut off finger that is connected with a slide 52, operative parallel with the slide 10.

All of the above described parts are constructed and operated in a well known manner. The blank as it reaches the bottom of the chute being pushed therefrom by the feed plate 11 between the stationary and movable dies 8 and 9, the cut off finger 12 being so arranged in relation to the plate 11- that only one blank at a time is permitted to leave the feed chute. Fixed to the body member 1, by the screws 18, is the bracket 14: having a lug 15 upon one side thereof, to

which the carrier 16 is pivotally connected by the pin 1'7. This carrier is secured to the bracket 1-1 against movement, when the hopper mechanism is in its operative position, by the screw 18, which passes through a slotted opening 19 in said carrier and threaded into said bracket. Movably connected with the carrier 16, by the caps 21, is the slide 20, which derives its movement through the screw 22, that is rotatably mounted in said slide, but held against endwise movement and threaded through a lug 23 on the said carrier. Fixed to an arm 24 integral with said slide is the hopper 25, and rotatably mounted in said slide is a shaft 26 that is driven by a belt 27, said shaft carrying a pinion 28 which meshes into a gear 29 that is rotatably mounted in said slide and having a roll 30 connected therewith for operating the blade 31 of the hopper mechanism. The hopper mechanism, as

herein shown, constitutes no part of the present invention, and consists, in addition to the parts above described, the companion chute plates the pivot'ally mounted cover a clearing mechanism comprising a shaft 34; rotatably mounted in the hopper s. clearing wheels 35; pulley 3G fixed on said shaft; and a driving belt 37 connecting the pulley 36 with a pulley 38 on the shaft 26. My improved auxiliary chute comprises ablock 10 that is secured to the outer end of the cover 83 by the screw 39; an adjust able block all having the slot 42 therein, through which projects the screw 43 that is threaded into the block l0; a plate 4-41: having an inwardly turned lip 16 upon its bottom end, secured to the block l-O by the screws 49 that pass through slots a8; and a plate fl?) having an inwardly turned lip 47 upon its bottom end secured. to the block ll by the screws 50 that pass through slotted openings 48 therein.

In thread rolling machines it is desirable that the blank be started properly between the dies, and for this purpose I have designed the auxiliary chute mechanism just described, wherein the blank is supported therein when first engaged by the dies. The blanks as they leave the hopper slide down the chute plate 32 at substantially a right angle to the face of the dies 8 and 9, and then substantially parallel therewith by the plates 44: and i5, which support the blank by the head, as shown in Fig. 7, the shank thereof lying between the said dies 8 and 9. The plates 44 and 45 are adjustable vertically to accommodate heads of various thickness, and the plate 45 toward and away from the block 10 by means of the screw 13 to accommodate blanks of various diameters. The position of the discharge end of the chute may be moved toward and away from the dies through the adjustment of the hopper, by the screw which moves the slide 20, with the chute indirectly connected therewith upon the carrier 16, thereby providing for the use of this hopper mechanism for blanks of various lengths. If it is desired to feed blanks to the dies by hand instead of automatically, the hopper mechanism as a unit is moved out of alinement with the dies by removing the bolt 18 and swinging the carrier 16 upon its pivot mounting until the lug 51 thereon abuts against the bracket 14;, its then position being shown by the broken lines in Fig. 1.

The machines, preferably screw threading machines, with which the hopper is attached, are usually made either with or without a hopper, so that the machine may be fed by hand or automatically. Neither type is entirely satisfactory, as in some cases it is desirable to feed the blanks by hand, and

- this is not possible with machines having an automatic hopper feed, and the reverse is true, that with machines having a hopper feed it is desirable at times to feed the blanks by hand. Of course, in the latter case, it is easier to dismantle the entire hop per mechanism and then feed the blanks by hand. but with a hopperless machine there can be no automatic feeding. In addition to the above, it is desirable in all cases, even where they have a hopper feed, to try out and adjust the mechanism by hand feed ing, and hence it is desirable to have the hopper removed or out of the way. Where the hopper is fixed to the machine and requires dismantling to gain access to the parts, much time is consumed in removing the hopper and its mechanism from the machine which must be laid aside carefully where no damage will occur to it, then, when it is assembled, all of the parts must again be readjusted. Recognizing these, and other defects in the prior art, I have designed the hopper mechanism set forth herein, wherein the entire hopper and the parts connected therewith are moved as a unit toward and away from the threading dies. The change from the automatic to the hand feeding is made by merely taking out the screw 18 and then swinging the parts upon the pin 1'7, in which latter position the space occupied by the hopper when in its operative position is open to be occupied by the operator for hand feeding, and in other ways minor changes and alterations may be made within the spirit and. scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Applicant is aware that gyratory, tilting and reciprocating hoppers are old, and therefore, as such, does not include the same within the scope of the claims, but, so far as he is at present advised, he is the first to produce a. hopper that is connected with a standard, or any other member, mounted so as to be moved from a position wherein the hopper delivers blanks to the operating tools to the inoperative position of the hopper at a point distant from its operative position, and when in this latter inoperative position, not only the space occupied by the hopper, but that occupied by said standard or member is open and free and access to the operating tools is not interfered with by the presence of either the hopper or the standard or member to which it is connected.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a hinged carrier; of a slide; means for moving said slide upon said carrier; and a hopper connected with said slide so that during the movement of said carrier upon its hinged mounting said hopper mechanism will, as a unit, move through the are of a circle.

2. In mechanism of the character do scribed, the combination with a fixed member; of a carrier having a connection with said fixed member; a movable partconnected with said carrier; and a hopper mechanism connected with said movable part upon that side thereof distant from the connection of said carrier, said hopper mechanism by reason of such connection being moved into and out of its operative position, the space occupied by it when in its operative position being entirely open and free when said hopper mechanism is moved into its inoperative position.

In mechanism of the character described, the combination with a fixed member; of a carrier movably connected therewith; a slide upon said carrier; means for adjusting said slide upon said carrier; a hopper mechanism mounted upon said slide and movable therewith; and means for separably securing said carrier against movement.

4. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with a fixed member; of a carrier movably connected therewith; a slide upon said carrier; means for adjusting said slide upon said carrier substantially parallel with said pivotmounting; a hopper mechanism mounted upon said slide and movable therewith; and means for separably securing said carrier against movement.

5. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with a fixed member; of a carrier movably connected therewith; a slide upon said carrier; means for 1 adjusting said slide upon said carrier; a hopper mechanism, comprising a hopper, a blade, and rotary means for operating said 1 blade, mounted upon said slide and movable l therewith; and means for separably securing said carrier against movement.

6. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with a delivery chute; of an auxiliary chute connected with the discharge end thereof, comprising a block; a supporting plate adjustably secured thereto; a second block adjustably secured to said first block; and a second supporting plate adjustably secured to said second block.

7. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with a delivery chute; of an auxiliary chute connected with the discharge end thereof, comprising a block; a lipped supporting plate adjustably secured to said block so that the lip thereon may be moved toward or away from said block; a second block adjustably secured to said first block; and a second lipped supporting plate adjustably secured to said second block so that the lip thereon may be moved toward. and away from said second block.

8. In mechanism of the character described, the combination with a movably mounted carrier; of a slide upon said carrier; means for adjusting said slide upon said carrier; a hopper mechanism, comprising a hopper, a plate movable in said hopper and rotary means for operating said plate, mounted on said slide and movable therewith; and means for separably securing said carrier against movement.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD LESTER I/VILCOX. lVitnesses B. F. HUBBELL, Gno. F. BYAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

